Guiding and feeding mechanism for endless typewriter ribbons



Oct. 21, 1952 PESSQA 2,614,676

GUIDING AND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR ENDLESS TYPEWRITER RIBBONS Filed July 14, 1948 FIG-l FIG-2 3 3 8 I I F .0

2b I n 5 INVENTOR 22 AUGUSTO LEITE PESSOA ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 21, 19 52 GUIDINGF. f AND EDING- ME CHANISMaiFOR; 11- ENDLESS TYPEWRITERiRIBBONSg-l;

A smneiteres's a,.niaiue JaLnirmBrazil soli aire; (or. ran-15s) This invention relates to; a .newadeviceqfor use inconnection with typewriters and consists of. two rectangular boxes of .metal or plastic adapt-,

able to any. typewriting machine. ofv modern. con-:

struction the. covering or, upper body-of which in front of the platen,is unobstructed by any vother. partor device; The saidboxes. contain the-suit-- ably prepared typewriter ribbon and-.control 'it without theus of spoolsas now used theysim-f bodies; which are of different. size, .butcooperate,

with each other,"thesmallerserving as a slide forthelarger. The. smaller body fB'of each box. is slidingly mounted in the devicemby meansof a system of rollers; Thelarger body ..A is fixed- 1yv secured. to the frameflof the typewriter. In-. ternally, the two boxes. are divided; into. cavities arranged so as to lettheribbonpassinia hOIie zontal directionguided'by twotrailergposts each.

formed by' a] vertical piny around; which f I I of 6 tov 8 meters, the. ribbon used in the. present;

rollers, the posts beingdisposed at'thev two,ex'-, treme cornersjof each box; Th'elribfbon .beingof. the endl ess ribbon type has a length of 1m.'or. a.

littleimore and'a width of 13 m'm., approximatelm. The said boxes aregmounted on the'mach'ine. so asfto make use of the holes; alreadyiexistingij thereon,'and serve "as permanent containers ,iorf

the "ribbon: The application of-the new device.

makes it. necessary to removethe present recep-; taclesfor'the ribbon whichare. situated on the.

upper part of them'achine; At 'those'points' two sets of pressure rolls are mounted, which serve.

I the purpose of actuating; the typewriter ribbon;

At presentywhenever the typist wisliesttore place the ribbon, he has to execute a numberof operations, adjustments" and the like" as follows? 1 :1? The: ribbonf must be "wound-completely TOR one *of "the" spools; which" is" obtained" by'. turn:-

ingiasuitablehandleinpnedirectionionlyi arrowheadedfhook cliplgprovided. in. the; mide (11601 the spool .onwhich the ribbon is wound; m...

I 4.'"' I"he new. ribbon .must..be. grasped by the. missta e TH edd 1 he sl -e te nedi I 5. .The spools must .againbe mountedon their respective shafts situated on top. of the body. of the machine;

6. The ribbon must also be threaded. again through the ribbon-carrier in the center where. the .type prints and: inserted into. the; ribbonholders; I I

7. The crank handlemust be turned for winding; the'ribbon, and otheroperations. must also.

. be executed.

At present, whenever the ribbon r'novernentv reaches its end on one of thespools, theautm matic reverse mechanism. causes the ribbonto move in the opposite direction A s,..how.ever, this reverse gets easily jammed, the operator! has to be on the alert every time the. ribbonreacli es that point. I t

The present invention eliminates many. of these drawbacks and has the followingadvantageslovert I the customary method of winding the ribbon on,

the spools:-

(a) Complete-l, utilization of the. ribbon which will serve until it is wornout or. term... (b) A shorter ribbonwhich, therefore,,.will be cheaper; while thecommon ribbons have a length,

invention isonly about onemeter long; Y

(c), Easy and quick insertion offtheribbonint the permanent casing, without the. need offskill'i orltr'aining;

(d) Clear print,. .as the operator. can always.

and special ink, which is done in no time; I

(e') 1 Durability or the ribbon compared, to the 'ones at .present in use, considering that it canbe. re'storedQas stated above, andth'at a stronger fabric canbe used for the new ribbons;

(f) The soiling ofones fingers. is avoided;

, because the ribbon is carried and extended'on the back of the thumb and firstfinger and al; lowed to fall by itself. into place between the two driving rolls and against the four trailer" posts in the corners oithe ribbonboxes;

- (g) Th'euse oft-spools is dispensed.with;,

(h) I The jamming of the ribbon mechanism. and ythe automatic reverse is avoided, inasmuch. as the ribbonlalways runsin one .direction-,-..there-a bein'g'no need. for it to run in difierentdirecetions;'

(i) pNo-change is. necessary in the machine or; its structural parts. Only awsmall..-cut=uis..:re-, quired in the upper coversand' laterally. onboth; sides..- and: furthermore,.: the) substitution: ofthe shaft .of; the ispools zanothenrexactlx ,falike cbutas not united with the spool container, as is now the case;

(7) The cost of a typewriter ribbon is considerably reduced;

(It) The typewriting machine is given a more beautiful and more stylish appearance.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: 7

Fig. 1 shows the whole novel device according to the invention mounted on a typewriting machine of modern construction;

Fig. 2 shows, in detail, the two boxes of metal or other suitable material, with the two cover plates, removably situated on both sides and within which the ribbon is threaded around movable rollers or trailer posts at the four corners of the said boxes and through the two systems of cylinders or rolls, the ribbon being finally also threaded through the ribbon-carrier in the center where the type prints;

Fig. 3 shows a slide B to be slidingly mounted on each one of the frames A, as indicated in the preceding figure;

' Fig. presents a device consisting of a button with a rod having two gears to be mounted on two racks whereby the tension of the ribbon used in the novel device is controlled;

Fig; 5 shows a system on which a pin or trailer post is iiexibly mounted which maintains the ribbon in upright position, allowing for a certain flexibility;

Fig; 6 is a system of cylinders or pressure rolls serving as a ribbon drive when they are pressed against each other;

Fig. '7 shows an inked ribbon of the endless type, being about 1 meter long.

As will be seen from the drawing, the new device adaptable to typewriting machines for ribbon control and invented for this purpose, essen tially consists of two rectangular boxes l (Figs. 1

and 2) each of which is internally divided into two distinct parts or compartments. The first part is formed by a plate A, having vertically mounted thereon four walls 2a, which form two open parallel channels within which runs the typewriter ribbon 6. A cover plate 3 is hinged to one wall so as to permit closing the ribbon casing completely in order to prevent dust and foreign matter from entering the casing. inent, furthermore, comprises a pressure roll syste'nr I8, 59 which can be closed and opened by means of an arnr22 so as to allow of the ribbon 6 being threaded and guided around the trailer posts 5 and through the above-mentioned channels while holding the ribbon under proper tension. The second part of the said box slides within the first part, already described, by means of a roller system controlled by a knob I. This second part comprises (Fig. 3) a plate B on which are mounted six walls 21), arranged in the form of two Us with the legs of the Us in substantial alignment with the respective walls 2a. Through the channel thus formedthe ribbon 6 moves supported by the trailer posts 5. This assembly is located in the lower outer part of the slide B. Two rack rails iii are secured to the plate A which rails cooperate with the rollers or pinions 9 so as to permit that the two parts of each one of the said boxes become sufficiently narrowed or spaced to facilitate inserting the ribbon into the casing and keep-' ing it conveniently stretched (Fig. i). The rollers or'pinions 9 are operable by means of a shaft 8a ending in a knob I. 'A fitting H is mounted on plate B andin this fitting slides a disc l3 having aspring-ilfastened at the'poin't' 15, this disc The arrange rated by means of the control lever 22. erence 20 indicates .the spool shaft of the typevwriter itself on which at present the spool with 4 having secured thereto a post 5 enclosed in a movable roller I2. This arrangement serves the purpose of giving the ribbon a certain flexibility, especially when the keys are shifted to write capital letters or upper casecharacters, that is, the ribbon-carrier reaches its highest position (Fig. 5). The system furthermore includes two L- shaped metal pieces It and l1, and a spring 23 positioned so that the parts supporting the pressure rolls l8 and I 9 are brought together or sepa- The refthe ribbon is mounted and which is now made use "of to transmit rotatory movement to the pressure .rolls l8. and IS. The roll I9 is mounted at 2|,

while theribbon passes between the said pressure rolls which exert a pull on it so that it moves within itscasing. The typewriter ribbon consists of an endless ribbon 6 (Fig. 9), made of stronger fabric than those nowin use, and the ink on which can always be restored when it is desired to obtain a fresher print on the paper without the necessity of removing the ribbon from its casing.

The device according to the invention may be installed as follows: First, the carriage of the typewriter is moved so as to position the platen in the center. Then the cover is lifted off the machine or the topof the body, as may be the case, to permit removal of the spools and the respective ribbon holders or spool guards located inside. The two metal boxes of the present invention are then screwed on to the apertures existing on the machine and are thus secured externally to the machine like two wings, as shown in Fig. 1'. By turning the knobs '1, the two plates A of the boxes are adjusted relative to each other so as to facilitate placing the suitably prepared typewriter ribbon inside. After first lifting off the covers or lids of the novel arrangement, the ribbon is gripped by the tips of the thumb and first finger so that it rests against the backs of the same, whereupon the ribbon is dropped into its proper position, that is, between the pressure rolls (Fig. 6), previously opened by means of their control levers 22, and is passed around the trailer posts .5 (Figures 2 and 3), situated in each corner of the rectangular boxes. Now the ribbon is threaded through the ribboncarrier,'and each one of the knobs l is actuated suitably to stretch the ribbon inside its casing. After the closing system of one of the pressure rolls has been actuated the top covers of the machine and of the novel device are closed. Thus, when operating the machine'in the usual manner, the shaft 20 will rotate, driving in its turn the ribbon inside the casing and consequently threading it through the ribbon-carrier of the typewriter.

All these operations are extremely easy, and are directed in very much less time than is required at present for placing or replacing a typewriter ribbon. A further advantage consists in a considerable reduction in, the cost of the ribbon which may be re-inked at any time. To this end, the ribbon is moved by means of a crank lever provided in the machine, and ink is applied to each side of the ribbon throughout its length by means of a brush. If at the end of a days work it is noted that the print becomes faint or not clearly legible, it will be enough to restore the ink as just mentioned and, next day, typing c-an'be resumed without risk of blotting or blurring r any other inconvenience. For this purpose aqulck-drying ink will be used. Such restoration will only be made in the case mentioned and not daily.

It will be understood that the present invention may undergo many different modifications in its component or structural parts without departing from its principle and scope as set forth in the following claims.

I claim: v

1. A device for typewriters which eliminates the use of the usual spools and ribbon holders and conveyors, comprising two rectangular outer housings having a base and thr-eeside portions, said housings being adapted to be disposed on the cover plate of a typewriting machine, said base of each outer housing having slots, an inner housing similar to each of the outer houstwo relatively adjustable parts, rack means connected to one of said parts, pinion means carried by the adjacent other part and arranged for engagement withsaid rack means to thereby effect relative adjustment of the respective housing, manually operable means operatively conings but of smaller dimensions lodged inside each of said outer housings so that all side portions are parallel to the three side portions of the outer housings and located at a short distance from these side portions, thus forming a continuous and relatively narrow passage for the typewriter ribbon, trailer posts projecting vertically from and guided in said slots, additional posts located on the base of said outer housings adjacent their open sides and aligned with certain of the vertical posts, and a relatively large pressure disc adjacent each one of the said additional posts, whereby a typewriter ribbon may be positioned in the continuous and narrow passage formed between the side portions of the outer and inner housings and passed around the vertical posts, between the addispaced from said outer wall so as to form there-- -with a passage for a typewriter ribbon, each of v said housings being transversely divided to form nected with said pinion means for actuating the same, yieldably mounted trailer posts within said housings for guiding a typewriter ribbon in said housings, frictional driving means Within said.

housings for fricti'onally engaging and driving said ribbon, and means operatively connected with said frictional driving means and manual- Ly operable for selectively disengaging said rib- 3. Guide and feeding mechanism for typewriter ribbons comprising in combination, a pair of spaced first supporting means respectively arranged at both sides of a typewriter, second supporting means respectively associated with said first supporting means and movable relative thereto, two pairs of spaced guide posts, each pair being associated with one of said second supporting means and being yieldably supported, two pairs of tension rollers respectively associated with said first supporting means, means connected to at least one of said rollers for rotating the same in response to the actuation of the keys of said typewriter, and means operatively connected with each first supporting means and the adjacent second supporting means for eiiecting relative movement therebetween.

AUGUSTO LE'ITE PESSOA.

REFERENCES CITED .The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 764,342 Booth July 5, 1904 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country I Date 603,257 Germany Sept. 26, 1934 

